Obesity can actually cause hair loss! I was so scared that I quickly threw away the drink in my hand...

With the development of society and the change of lifestyle, factors such as irregular eating and sleeping habits, lack of exercise, etc. have led to an increasing number of obese people, and the problems caused by obesity have also increased accordingly.

1. What is obesity?

Obesity refers to the abnormal accumulation of fat or abnormal fat distribution in the body, which is mostly caused by genetic factors or environmental factors. The body takes in too much energy, causing the excess energy to be converted into lipids in the body. The deliberate accumulation of lipids in the body leads to obesity. Obesity is not only an excess accumulation of energy in the body, but also a chronic metabolic disease closely related to life. A large amount of data shows that obesity is an important cause of metabolic syndrome.

Body mass index (BMI) is an internationally recognized standard for measuring obesity. BMI = weight ÷ height² (weight in kilograms; height in meters). In my country, BMI>24 is considered overweight, and BMI>28 is considered obese.

The authoritative medical journal The Lancet published a report on obesity in China in 2013, which stated that more than 28% of adult males and 27% of adult females in China are "overweight" or "obese." The latest epidemiological survey data shows that currently, about 17.10% of males and 13.37% of females in my country have a BMI>28, and this proportion is still rising.

2. The latest research found another important harm of obesity

At present, obesity, as an independent dangerous disease, has become one of the major health problems in the world, and various diseases induced by obesity have become an important reason affecting human health and quality of life. The World Health Organization has listed obesity as one of the top ten risk factors leading to disease burden. At the same time, obesity is also a risk factor for many diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hyperuricemia, and cancer.

In addition to the above hazards, obesity may also be closely related to hair loss. Recently, Nature magazine published an article titled "Obesity accelerates hair thinning by stem cell-centric converging mechanisms", which pointed out that the Tokyo Medical Team in Japan found through experimental research that obesity can cause hair loss by depleting hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs).

Many people are familiar with stem cells. Stem cells are a type of cell with unlimited self-renewal ability. According to their differentiation potential, stem cells can also be divided into totipotent stem cells, pluripotent stem cells and unipotent stem cells. The HFSCs mentioned in the above-mentioned Tokyo Medical Team’s research are a type of pluripotent stem cells. They have the potential for multidirectional differentiation and can differentiate into epidermis, hair follicles, sebaceous glands, etc.

3. The mechanism of obesity causing hair loss

Scientists from the Tokyo Medical Team in Japan conducted an experimental verification of the relationship between obesity and hair loss using mice. They fed the mice with normal food and high-fat food to observe the changes in their hair.

The observations showed that in 20-month-old mice, after only one month of continuous feeding of a high-fat diet, significant hair loss had already occurred. In 2-month-old mice, after several months of continuous feeding of a high-fat diet, even mice with vigorous hair growth began to lose their hair, and the hair became finer and softer.

Finally, scientists found that the number of hair follicle stem cells in mice that consumed a high-fat diet for a long time would decrease significantly and develop into epidermal keratinization. When there are too few hair follicle stem cells or they fail, the hair will fall out and decrease. And the fatter the mice are, the more hair follicle stem cells they lose. Obesity can cause the SHH signal that affects the differentiation of hair follicle stem cells to be inhibited, thereby inducing the failure of hair follicle stem cells and causing hair loss.

Although the above research only conducted experimental analysis on mice, it provides important data support for the prevention and treatment of other diseases such as hair loss.

4. Common types of hair loss

Clinically, hair loss is a very common skin disease characterized by hair loss, among which seborrheic dermatitis, androgenic alopecia, alopecia areata and chemotherapy-induced alopecia are more common.

Androgenetic alopecia

Androgenic alopecia is also known as seborrheic alopecia or premature baldness. More than 90% of hair loss (receding hairline, baldness, and baldness) is androgenic alopecia. It is the most common type of hair loss in clinical practice and has a higher incidence rate in men. The latest epidemiological data in my country show that the incidence rate of androgenic alopecia in men is about 21.3%, and in women it is about 6.0%. In other words, one in every five men is troubled by androgenic alopecia.

Androgenic alopecia is mainly manifested by a continuous decrease in hair density on the top of the head and a receding hairline. It is mainly caused by the progressive hair loss caused by the miniaturization of hair follicles caused by androgens. The incidence of androgenic alopecia gradually increases with age. The pathogenesis is related to sex hormones, genetics, aging and other factors.

Alopecia areata

Alopecia areata is a specific autoimmune disease with a certain genetic tendency. The incidence rate of the population is about 0.1%-0.3%, which mainly affects the hair follicles in the growth stage. There are many causes of alopecia areata. The main cause that has been identified so far is that it is closely related to the collapse of the physiological immune characteristics of T cells and hair follicles.

Telogen effluvium

Normally, about 80% of the hair follicles of a healthy person are in the growth phase, so only a small amount of hair falls out. However, after surgery, childbirth, blood loss, severe mental stimulation and other factors, the hair follicles in the growth phase may suddenly enter the resting phase, resulting in a large amount of hair loss.

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is also known as growth phase alopecia. When the cytotoxic drugs in the body reach a certain concentration in a short period of time, most of the hair in the growth phase will suddenly stop growing and fall out in large numbers. Cytotoxic drugs damage the keratinocytes in the proliferative matrix of the hair bulb of the growing hair follicles, causing the hair follicles to enter the regression phase, damaging the integrity of the hair shaft, and causing hair to fall out. The use of drugs such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cyclophosphamide and etoposide can cause moderate to severe chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Currently, scalp cooling is the only way to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, and it is effective in about half of patients.

In addition, certain hairstyles require long-term traction on the scalp (such as tying the hair tightly for a long time), which can also lead to hair loss.

5. What are the causes of hair loss?

According to statistics, about 70% of men and 40% of women suffer from hair loss. Hair loss is mainly related to factors such as impaired immune function, skin diseases and environmental influences.

1. Genetic factors

Genetic factors are the main cause of androgenic alopecia, which can occur in both men and women, but is most common in men. Under the action of androgens, hair follicles progressively shrink, resulting in clinically visible hair loss.

2. Autoimmune factors

Alopecia areata is the most typical example. According to clinical data, some patients with alopecia areata may also have other types of autoimmune diseases such as thyroiditis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and vitiligo.

3. Drug effects

During the treatment of malignant tumors, the use of some chemotherapy drugs can cause patients to lose a lot of hair.

4. Excessive mental stress

Long-term mental stress or being under stress can lead to local endocrine disorders, which can cause hair loss such as alopecia areata and telogen effluvium.

5. Infection factors

Bacterial and fungal infections can cause damage to hair follicles, inflammation and scar formation, which can easily lead to permanent hair loss.

6. Others

Some special hairdressing and combing habits, such as combing the hair hard, tying the hair too tightly, etc., can cause long-term excessive pulling of the hair and scalp, causing traction alopecia.

In addition, excessive weight loss, anemia caused by various reasons and other malnutrition can also lead to a large amount of hair loss in a short period of time. Generally speaking, hair loss caused by malnutrition will return to normal after correcting the nutritional status.

6. Beware of hair loss in teenagers

In recent years, the physical fitness of young people in my country has been declining, and nearly 60% of men will experience hair loss before the age of 25. According to the 2019 survey data released by the National Health Commission, the number of people with hair loss in my country exceeds 250 million. Among them, the proportion of people with hair loss before the age of 30 is as high as 84%, and the age of hair loss has been advanced by at least 20 years, showing a clear trend of younger age. The wide range of people affected by hair loss and the large number of people also have varying degrees of impact on the mental health and quality of life of young people.

1. What is the reason for the increasing number of teenagers suffering from hair loss?

Genetic factors

Androgenic alopecia is an autosomal dominant trait, and its genetic characteristics can only be manifested under the action of androgens. Family history has a great influence on the onset and development of androgenic alopecia.

Too much pressure

High mental stress and fast pace of life are the current situation of almost all young people. Problems such as further study, employment, and promotion bother everyone. Many patients who visit the clinic say that hair loss increases significantly when they are particularly busy or stressed.

Experts explain that excessive use of the brain can cause the capillaries in the scalp to contract, and the oxygen and nutrients supplied to the hair follicles will be reduced accordingly, causing hair to fall out due to nutritional disorders. Mental stress can cause local endocrine disorders, abnormal sebaceous gland secretion, increased sebum secretion, and sebum accumulation, which can cause excessive keratinization and embolism of the hair follicles, and the hair follicles will gradually become smaller, leading to hair loss problems.

Therefore, teenagers should pay attention to the combination of work and rest, reasonably relieve negative emotions, and actively deal with difficulties to reduce hair loss caused by psychological factors.

Irregular work and rest schedule

The use of electronic products such as mobile phones and computers has gradually reduced the sleep time of today's teenagers. Staying up late, irregular work and rest, lack of sleep and other problems will disrupt the endocrine balance, leading to endocrine disorders and causing hair loss. On the other hand, factors such as lack of sleep and excessive stress will stimulate the pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to increased secretion of adrenal androgens, which to a certain extent aggravates the possibility of hair loss.

Therefore, teenagers should pay attention to going to bed early and getting up early to ensure adequate sleep; try to avoid emotional tension to avoid insomnia and other problems.

Bad eating habits

Eating habits are closely related to the occurrence and development of hair loss. They are mainly reflected in the amount of food eaten, the frequency of eating, and the types of food eaten. Bad eating habits such as overeating, preference for fatty, greasy, and irritating foods (such as high-fat foods, tobacco, alcohol, and other irritating foods), and dieting for weight loss will affect the normal biological rhythm, cause endocrine disorders, and ultimately lead to hair loss.

Therefore, teenagers should pay attention to regular diet, eat small meals frequently; ensure that the diet is rich and varied, nutritionally balanced and not excessive; the diet should be light, and eat less high-temperature fried, high-fat, spicy and irritating foods.

Sitting for long periods of time

Sitting for a long time is one of the main reasons for the aggravation of hair loss in teenagers, especially for those who need to face the computer screen for a long time. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine: sitting for a long time hurts the kidneys, and looking for a long time hurts the blood. The kidney is in the hair, and the hair is the residue of the blood. Therefore, sitting for a long time can easily lead to hair loss in teenagers.

Therefore, while studying and working, young people must pay attention to strengthening physical exercise, reducing sitting time, and combining work and rest.

7. How to scientifically determine the extent of hair loss?

What is hair loss?

Each person has about 100,000 hairs. Due to the body's metabolism, the human body will also experience hair loss. If less than 100 hairs are lost every day and the hair is lost evenly, it is normal. However, if more than 100 hairs are lost every day and they fall off in flaky patterns, it may be pathological hair loss and must be paid attention to.

Grading the severity of hair loss

1. How to determine whether you are experiencing hair loss?

● Count the fallen hair: If less than 50 hairs fall out every day, it is normal hair loss; if more than 100 hairs fall out every day, it is hair loss; if the number of hairs lost every day is between 50 and 100, it indicates the risk of hair loss and requires attention.

● Hair pulling test: Use your thumb and index finger to pull a bunch of hair (about 50-60 strands) and judge whether it is hair loss by the number of hairs that fall out. If less than 6 strands of hair fall out in the hair pulling test, it is normal; if more than 6 strands of hair fall out in the hair pulling test, there is a risk of hair loss.

2. How to judge the severity of hair loss?

There are three types of criteria for judging the severity of hair loss: criteria for men, women, and both men and women.

● Grades of male hair loss

Taking androgenic alopecia as an example, the Hamilton classification system is commonly used to classify the severity of male hair loss internationally, which is divided into 7 levels and 12 types. The classification standards for hair loss levels are:

① Grade 1: The hairline is normal or only slightly recedes;

②Level 2: The hairline of the forehead and temporal region moves back in a triangular shape, about 2 cm away from the line connecting the external auditory canals;

③ Grade 3: The frontotemporal hairline recession is more obvious than that of Grade 2, and is more than 2 cm away from the line connecting the external auditory canal. Grade 3 variant is most common in the elderly, with total baldness on the top of the head and frontotemporal recession, and the severity does not exceed Grade 3.

④Grade 4: hair loss on the top of the head with receding hairline in the middle of the forehead;

⑤Grade 5: Diffuse hair loss or baldness in the forehead, with reduced hair density;

⑥Grade 6: Horseshoe-shaped hair loss occurs, and the hair loss areas on the sides and back increase;

⑦Level 7: In addition to horseshoe-shaped hair loss, hair loss also occurs around the ears and on the back of the head. Level 7 hair loss is a more serious type of hair loss.

It should be noted that levels 1-5 in the Hamilton classification system belong to mild and moderate hair loss. At this time, the hair follicles have not completely atrophied, and timely and effective treatment can still have a certain degree of recovery chance.

In the Hamilton classification system, grade 6 or above is considered severe hair loss, and most hair follicles have atrophied. At this time, the treatment effect is generally poor.

● Grades of hair loss in women

The most widely used method for determining the severity of female hair loss is the Ludwig classification, which is divided into 3 levels:

Grade I (mild): The hair on the top of the head is sparse, and the forehead hairline is 1-3 cm wide;

Grade II (moderate): The hair in the same area is thinner than Grade I, and the scalp is obviously exposed;

Grade III (severe): In the hair loss area of ​​grades I and II, the hair falls out completely and the scalp is completely exposed.

● BASP grading method

The BASP grading method is based on the different hair loss patterns shown by patients with androgenic alopecia. The method is divided into two parts: basic grading and special grading. Among them, the four basic types L, M, C, and U represent the shape of the front hairline respectively; the two special types F and V represent the density of hair in specific areas (frontal F and top V).

①L type: the hairline on the forehead does not move back;

②M type: The hairline at the temples recedes more obviously than the central hairline, and is symmetrical;

③ Type C: The hairline in the middle of the forehead recedes more significantly than on both sides, forming a "C" shape;

④U-type: The hairline on the forehead recedes to the top of the head, forming a horseshoe shape, similar to a "U", which is the most serious type of hair loss;

⑤V-type: The hair on the top of the head is obviously sparse and exceeds the forehead area;

⑥Type F: The hair density is diffusely reduced, which is most obvious in the forehead area. It is the main type of female pattern hair loss.

8. You should do this to prevent hair loss

Methods to prevent hair loss include general treatment and medication. To prevent hair loss, we must first identify the specific causes of hair loss and carry out targeted treatment and prevention based on the cause. Taking androgenic alopecia as an example, although androgenic alopecia cannot be prevented, systematic treatment generally has a better effect. After determining the cause of hair loss, targeted medication can be used under the guidance of a professional doctor, and the earlier the medication is used, the better the effect. General treatment mainly includes diet adjustment, learning to wash your hair correctly, and developing good living habits.

Medication management

In the early stages of hair loss, when the hairline slightly recedes, medication can be used. The medication mentioned here is medication that can be used after being diagnosed by a professional doctor, not the "traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese patent medicine, folk prescriptions" mentioned in the advertisement.

1. Minoxidil (2%, 5% concentration)

This drug can be used by both men and women. It has the advantages of few side effects, obvious effects (the effectiveness for mild to moderate hair loss can reach about 70%), and simple use. It is currently the most effective and widely used drug for the treatment of hair loss.

It is mainly used for hair loss, thinning hair, and early slight receding hairline. The concentration of minoxidil for men and women is different, so it must be used under the guidance of a doctor, otherwise side effects are very likely to occur.

2. Finasteride

Finasteride is mainly used to treat male hair loss. In 1992, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 1 mg of finasteride for the treatment of male androgenic alopecia. It is a reliable drug for the treatment of male androgenic alopecia. According to clinical data, continuous use of finasteride for more than 3 months can effectively prevent hair loss. About 75% of mild to moderate hair loss patients have obvious effects after taking the medicine. However, finasteride has a certain degree of drug dependence. Studies have pointed out that the efficacy may be reversed within 12 months after stopping the medication.

3. Spironolactone (Spironolactone), Cyproterone

It is suitable for the prevention and treatment of hair loss in women, but not in men. Women must consult a professional doctor and take the medicine according to the doctor's advice when using it.

Dietary adjustments

1. Supplement protein appropriately

The essence of hair is a protein called keratin. Therefore, if there is a lack of protein in the diet, hair will not only grow slowly but also fall out easily. Long-term lack of protein will also cause hair to become thinner, brittle, dry, and lighter in color. If you want your hair to grow healthily, you must pay attention to supplementing foods rich in high-quality protein such as eggs, beef, chicken, dairy products, and bean products.

2. Supplement B vitamins

B vitamins participate in the metabolism of proteins and amino acids, and can protect the health of hair. Whole grains and lean meat contain more B vitamins and can be eaten appropriately.

3. Pay attention to iron supplementation

Research has found that the main cause of hair loss in postmenopausal women is iron deficiency. In addition, iron deficiency anemia caused by iron deficiency can also cause hair loss. It should be noted that the absorption rate of non-heme iron in plant foods is very low, and anti-nutrients such as oxalic acid will further hinder the absorption of iron. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the intake of iron-rich animal foods such as red meat and animal liver.

Learn to wash your hair properly

Washing your hair properly can effectively alleviate the problem of hair loss. If you are prone to hair loss, you should pay more attention to keeping your scalp clean. However, you should not wash your hair too often. Generally, you can wash it once every 3-5 days. If your hair is prone to oiliness, you can increase the frequency of hair washing according to the actual situation.

When washing your hair, pay attention to massaging your scalp, which can not only keep your scalp clean, but also promote blood circulation in the head. Choose a weakly acidic natural shampoo that is suitable for your scalp and hair quality. Do not use strong degreasing or alkaline shampoo, otherwise it will not only easily cause dry hair, but also damage the health of the scalp. Be sure to rinse thoroughly after using shampoo and conditioner to avoid causing or aggravating hair loss problems due to irritation.

Develop good living habits

In order to prevent and treat hair loss fundamentally, in addition to increasing nutrition and eating less spicy, stimulating and greasy food, you should also pay attention to quitting smoking and drinking, arrange your work and rest time reasonably, and ensure that your daily life is regular. Exercise three to four times a week, 30 to 40 minutes each time, according to your heart function and the sports you can stick to, try to keep your weight within the standard weight, control hair loss caused by obesity and ensure adequate sleep, so as to maintain the body's normal metabolism and promote normal hair growth. In addition, beauty lovers should pay attention to avoid excessive perming and dyeing, and the interval between perming and dyeing should be more than 3-6 months.

In addition, mental anxiety, tension, and excessive stress can also easily cause hair loss. Therefore, you should pay attention to combining work and rest, relax, relieve stress in time, and face difficulties with optimism.

Normally, hair loss does not occur suddenly. Pay attention to the extent of your hair loss. If hair loss occurs suddenly and lasts for more than 3 months, you must go to a regular hospital for treatment.